alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
macroeconomist and computer user at http://www.common-wealth.org, editor at www.continuousvariation.com, fellow at stanford, partisan of the republic of letters
Pinned
alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
· Aug 22
"because only that exists which can be posted, bodies themselves fell under the regime of the symbolic" - literal Kittler
Reposted by alex williams
Leaked files show Catholics among Pope candidates
November 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Leaked files show Catholics among Pope candidates
Reposted by alex williams
the fact that dealing with rampant lying and its much worse downstream consequences involves cultivating values rather than just imposing formal frameworks or rules (legal or otherwise) is a tough pill to swallow for some. but it is indeed medicine
Pointing out that something is incorrect definitely isn't sufficient - the *culture* of "it is bad to make incorrect statements, good to promptly and clearly retract and apologize for them, and disqualifying to keep making them deliberately" is the framework needed for fact-checking to plug into.
November 28, 2025 at 3:40 PM
the fact that dealing with rampant lying and its much worse downstream consequences involves cultivating values rather than just imposing formal frameworks or rules (legal or otherwise) is a tough pill to swallow for some. but it is indeed medicine
Reposted by alex williams
No. 23: Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read. Basically a work of political economy of Multi-level Marketing schemes: less focused on the day-to-day experience of working for an MLM (though there are vignettes about that) and more about the history of the
November 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM
No. 23: Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read. Basically a work of political economy of Multi-level Marketing schemes: less focused on the day-to-day experience of working for an MLM (though there are vignettes about that) and more about the history of the
book of posts in my shelf about this i havent flipped thru yet called "the monadic age"
Modernity was nice while it lasted.
Now we have atomized individualism without the individualism.
Not what I would have picked!
Now we have atomized individualism without the individualism.
Not what I would have picked!
November 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM
book of posts in my shelf about this i havent flipped thru yet called "the monadic age"
Reposted by alex williams
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
Reposted by alex williams
“This Whole Thing Smacks Of Campism,” I holler as I overturn the cranberry sauce
Thanksgiving tip! If your family members or loved ones have generally good politics, you can still fuck things up by accusing them of not having a realistic plan for building socialism in our time
November 23, 2023 at 7:17 PM
“This Whole Thing Smacks Of Campism,” I holler as I overturn the cranberry sauce
yes good duh and a merry "fuck you robin hanson"
Wait, you’re telling me that Kalshi, which was obviously a gambling scam from the beginning, is being sued for being a gambling scam?
November 27, 2025 at 3:31 PM
yes good duh and a merry "fuck you robin hanson"
Reposted by alex williams
This means NSF dissertation improvement grants in the social sciences are simply...not happening.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
This means NSF dissertation improvement grants in the social sciences are simply...not happening.
i think olivia nuzzi's face looks like a shovel and all rfk is doing is getting revenge on america for having killed his family members
November 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
i think olivia nuzzi's face looks like a shovel and all rfk is doing is getting revenge on america for having killed his family members
this is such a funny botched metaphor. yeah man they got sharks a mile long out there
November 27, 2025 at 1:18 PM
this is such a funny botched metaphor. yeah man they got sharks a mile long out there
Reposted by alex williams
The second most important thing you can do is to baffle them. If the topic turns to politics, identify yourself as a republican. Then reveal that you mean classical republican. Start talking about the need for militias rather than standing armies & the importance of propertied independence.
November 27, 2025 at 3:25 AM
The second most important thing you can do is to baffle them. If the topic turns to politics, identify yourself as a republican. Then reveal that you mean classical republican. Start talking about the need for militias rather than standing armies & the importance of propertied independence.
Reposted by alex williams
it's really cheap and pretty easy to make a website. everyone should have at least one. don't know what you'd do with your website? just look at the ones your friends made until you feel inspired
November 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
it's really cheap and pretty easy to make a website. everyone should have at least one. don't know what you'd do with your website? just look at the ones your friends made until you feel inspired
- jean-francois lyotard, for much of the 80s and 90s
starting to think we might be living in a moment where narratives just keep collapsing under the mania and hysteria. not great!
November 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
- jean-francois lyotard, for much of the 80s and 90s
Reposted by alex williams
"the economic response to the pandemic really worked. Indeed, there is a good case that it was the most successful example of countercyclical policy in US history." jwmason.org/slackwire/at...
At Groundwork: Lessons from the September Jobs Report – J. W. Mason
jwmason.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"the economic response to the pandemic really worked. Indeed, there is a good case that it was the most successful example of countercyclical policy in US history." jwmason.org/slackwire/at...
absolutely. its just a model of language.
you could make a diorama of an exxon station at home and it would stand before creation with the same degree of wonder as a language model
you could make a diorama of an exxon station at home and it would stand before creation with the same degree of wonder as a language model
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:16 PM
absolutely. its just a model of language.
you could make a diorama of an exxon station at home and it would stand before creation with the same degree of wonder as a language model
you could make a diorama of an exxon station at home and it would stand before creation with the same degree of wonder as a language model
Reposted by alex williams
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
so basically all of these are real political tendencies now, I was so early
November 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
so basically all of these are real political tendencies now, I was so early
Reposted by alex williams
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
Reposted by alex williams
the denial "push the scientific frontier", whatever that means, has already been refuted
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
November 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
the denial "push the scientific frontier", whatever that means, has already been refuted
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
Reposted by alex williams
US PPI #inflation steady (Sep) as higher gas & #tariffs pressure offset by margin squeeze
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
November 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
US PPI #inflation steady (Sep) as higher gas & #tariffs pressure offset by margin squeeze
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
Reposted by alex williams
people get wrongfooted by terfs going “what if a man can just say he’s a woman and win the Olympics” but they will be a lot less sympathetic when that cashes out with “and that’s why the drunkest MAGA grandpas at the track meet are accusing your tomboy daughter of being a secret male”
November 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
people get wrongfooted by terfs going “what if a man can just say he’s a woman and win the Olympics” but they will be a lot less sympathetic when that cashes out with “and that’s why the drunkest MAGA grandpas at the track meet are accusing your tomboy daughter of being a secret male”
Reposted by alex williams
Hegseth’s Pentagon attacking astronauts and Boy Scouts. What’s next - banning apple pie?
“U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'” —
www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts.
www.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Hegseth’s Pentagon attacking astronauts and Boy Scouts. What’s next - banning apple pie?
Reposted by alex williams
And for readers if a journalist refuses to do at least this—which truly is the bare minimum, any journalist truly interested in covering this space should have a basic working knowledge of different types of models—they are not trustworthy. Do not read them
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 24, 2025 at 10:39 AM
And for readers if a journalist refuses to do at least this—which truly is the bare minimum, any journalist truly interested in covering this space should have a basic working knowledge of different types of models—they are not trustworthy. Do not read them
Reposted by alex williams
this is far too common to be dismissed as anecdota tbh. the sheer number of clubs and social groups that couldn't survive remote, or stayed permanently remote, had a huge impact on the social lives of like 100 million americans bsky.app/profile/adis...
this is just anecdotal but among my social circle like 90% of regularly scheduled in-person hangouts simply imploded over COVID and never returned. it's way, way harder to start these things than end them.
November 24, 2025 at 5:12 AM
this is far too common to be dismissed as anecdota tbh. the sheer number of clubs and social groups that couldn't survive remote, or stayed permanently remote, had a huge impact on the social lives of like 100 million americans bsky.app/profile/adis...
Reposted by alex williams
I’ll be on @maddow.bsky.social soon to talk about why I’m not going to let Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth intimidate me out of doing my job — including oversight of this administration. Tune in.
November 25, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I’ll be on @maddow.bsky.social soon to talk about why I’m not going to let Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth intimidate me out of doing my job — including oversight of this administration. Tune in.